Hyderabad-based Dhruva Space has received INR 105 crores from the Government of India's Research, Development & Innovation Fund (RDIF) to develop Project Garud, a 500 kg-class communications satellite platform intended for constellation-scale deployment. The grant was formalised on 13 May 2026 in New Delhi, during the inaugural Enterprise Technology Evaluation agreement signing and first fund disbursement under the government's ₹1 lakh crore RDI Scheme. Dhruva Space is among the first five startups in India to receive support under the initiative.
Project Garud is described in the source as a flat-pack satellite architecture designed to support standardised, high-volume production across applications including telecommunications, national security, and earth observation. According to Abhay Egoor, CTO and Co-founder of Dhruva Space, "the global market is rapidly moving toward constellation-scale deployments, but the supply side for reliable, production-ready spacecraft platforms remains constrained." The company states the platform is intended to reduce reliance on foreign satellite systems and strengthen India's supply chain for communications and intelligence infrastructure.
As part of the programme, Dhruva Space states it will establish manufacturing infrastructure targeting a production cadence of up to two satellites per day, representing an annualised potential of approximately 500–600 satellites. The platform is described as applicable across LEO, MEO, and future GEO mission architectures. Chaitanya Dora Surapureddy accepted the recognition on behalf of the company at the New Delhi ceremony.
